AOpen Aims $400 MiniPC at Creative Types

The 6.5-inch-square miniPC has a slot-load CD drive along with two USB ports and features a Intel Pentium Celeron M 1.3Ghz notebook processor.

AOpen Inc. this week debuted a new miniature PC the size of a small book that can plug into virtually any monitorfrom six-inch screens to 60-inch plasma televisionsto display high-definition resolution.

The 6.5-inch-square miniPC has a slot-load CD drive and a power button in the front, along with two USB ports, one 1394 and speaker out/mic in the back. It features an Intel Pentium Celeron M notebook processor (1.3Ghz) with near-silent cooling.

It will sell for $399 (pre-loaded Linspire Linux version) and $499 (pre-loaded Windows XP) beginning this month at Microcenter retail stores and on TigerDirect.com. A bare-bones version without a pre-loaded operating system also can be ordered for $399, the company said.

"For the first time, consumers will be able to experience desktop Linux with a cutting-edge miniature form factor," said Linspire Inc. vice president of marketing Kevin La Rue. "Resellers can finally deliver a fully loaded, complete miniPC that comes standard with all the features consumers wantfor under $400."

The Linspire version comes equipped with a Microsoft file-compatible office suite OpenOffice.org, the Mozilla Firefox browser, e-mail and instant messaging clients, multimedia viewers, photo and music managers, and calendaring tools. Access to additional software and applications is available through Linspire's CNR ("click and run") Warehouse, a software library where users can download and install more than 2,000 Linux programs.

The MiniPC is the first direct product that Taiwan-based AOpen has developed with San Diego-based Linspire, AOpen vice president of product marketing Chris Liu told Ziff Davis Internet.

"We did our research and saw that Linspire had the simplest-to-use interface and best look and feel among the Linux distributions for the MiniPC," Liu said, "so that's why we elected to work with them. We had done some indirect work with them in the past, also, through third parties, so we knew what Linspire could offer.

"AOpen ... has progressed from desktop platforms to small form factor platforms," Liu said. "Now we are taking a giant leap forward to develop consumer and ultra small form factor platforms."

The MiniPC is aimed at musicians, designers, students, avid computer enthusiastseven hardcore video gamersdue to the 1.3Ghz power it packs into a compact form.

The miniPC also provides DVI, S-Video, component, composite and YPbPr connectors so that it can be connected to HDTV, plasma display monitor, large screen display panels and high-definition audio. The miniPC can be turned into a control hub of a digital home entertainment center.

The miniPC also will be resold through AOpen partners such as Linspire, Canada-based Voodoo and others, who will configure the PCs based on customer specifications.